Do you remember the ending of Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade? Indy has a few trials that he has to make it through between arriving at the Canyon of the Crescent Moon (Petra) and reaching the room with the last of the three brothers & the resting place of the Holy Grail. The first demands a penitent heart, the second knowing & walking in the Name of God and the third was the leap of faith, a miraculously camouflaged bridge.

Well, we’ve been through some trials and now we are on the camouflaged bridge. One foot in the air, the other stepping off from the familiar floor.

It’s pretty plain to see (pun intended) that God’s path for us is rarely a straight A —> B route. He always works by circuitous methods, linking people and places we would never have looked for in order to find ourselves at the destination He has planned. We’ve been walking that path for a little while now. And while I would LOVE to say that we’ve found that place where our foot is landing on solid ground again, I am also fully aware that growth comes in those mid-air moments, the times where we are not in control.

God refines us through trials so that we will have what we need to have when we arrive where He is leading us. It is easy to say, difficult to wait through, & rewarding when it is accomplished, but usually not before. And it’s in the waiting where we find the conflict of our hearts. Because God knows better than to give us what we want when we want it, He gives us what we need as we need it. And so we grow in the waiting. God has been confirming our gifts, skills & identities in Him along the way, echoing the value He finds in us and that we were doubting just months before.

We are following each step as He lays it before us, following leads as He places them at our feet. Talking through one contact to the next, meeting one new person so that we may find the one who takes us where we need to go, God leads us ahead. And every time we take a step, He has shown us in one way or another that we are moving in the right direction. A word spoken, a verse repeated, a phone call offering support before we need it…He is faithful before our needs even arise. And this is the path of God, we must come humbly (“Only the penitent man shall pass.”) and walk according to His Name (“Only in the footsteps of God will he proceed.”) While we are in this moment/season of the “…leap from the Lion’s head” we know that God will prove Himself again and again as He has been doing.

The full story so far is super long, and I may write it out one day, but I think I’ll wait until I know that we have arrived on the other side of the chasm. There are still so many options laid out before us that we are sorting through them and praying for wisdom on which path to pursue. So, it’s not a matter of having a path to walk, it’s a mater of which one He wants us to follow & pursue. It is nice to have options, but we also would like to begin to move in one direction with solid purpose.

For now, we simply ask for prayers:
1. Pray that God will be glorified in us as He works out His plan.
2. Pray that God will provide in this in-between time (funding & temporary employment.)
3. Pray that God will give us strength for each day & wisdom to see His path.
4. Pray that God will bring healing around in us after the trials. (Marriage is fine, btw.)
5. Pray that God will show us each step as we need to take them, and that He will give us the faith to take them.